1) Lizard Skins Softcell: very comfortable and non-restrictive. Unfortunately, the elastic stretches out rather quickly and they are no longer in manufacture.
2) Triple-8 Street: cheap, effective, and available. Unfortunately, the elastic stretches out very very quickly and they don't match the shape of my knees all that well. They tend to shift around even when the elastic is new and a lot more when it is stretched out.

What else is available in the way of light weight pads? They need to stay on during a high speed fall. They don't need to withstand large vertical drops. They do need to be light, cool, and minimally restrictive. I skate long distances.

Last edited by ese002; October 22nd, 2015 at 02:14 AM.
Reason: awkward wording/grammar

Sounds to me like you have a perfectly good set of pads (or two) with some bad elastic straps. Why not look up a local seamst(er/ress)? I can't imagine it will cost that much for what is probably at most 30 minutes of work, and someone who works in that profession might have some insights on a better elastic that will last for you. Plus then you can feel good about supporting local business and reducing your waste footprint if you care about those things.

__________________
You don't improve by training until it hurts; you improve by training after it hurts.

Sounds to me like you have a perfectly good set of pads (or two) with some bad elastic straps. Why not look up a local seamst(er/ress)? I can't imagine it will cost that much for what is probably at most 30 minutes of work, and someone who works in that profession might have some insights on a better elastic that will last for you. Plus then you can feel good about supporting local business and reducing your waste footprint if you care about those things.

Maybe. The outside covering also tears on the Lizard Skins so fixing them is more involved then simply replacing a couple of straps. It would require substantial new material they may not be readily available and more robust stitching than they are likely accustomed to doing.

I've had a leather repair shop make additions to my boots and a luggage repair shop fix the velcro on my wrist guards. In both cases, the results were functional but not quite right. Even when skilled at similar looking operations, you can't expect perfect results if they are not familiar with the application.

Even though I have yet to take my first fall with these pads, I believe that they would not slip off during a fall and would keep my skin from coming off. I also believe that I better not do a hard vertical drop on those pads because knee cap cracking prevention would be minimal.

So in light of all that, I really do think they would be the perfect choice for all those speedskaters who aren't wearing any knee pads at all.

Even though I have yet to take my first fall with these pads, I believe that they would not slip off during a fall and would keep my skin from coming off. I also believe that I better not do a hard vertical drop on those pads because knee cap cracking prevention would be minimal.

So in light of all that, I really do think they would be the perfect choice for all those speedskaters who aren't wearing any knee pads at all.

Unless your idea is to hit the pads and immediately roll, I don't think these will work for speed. The plastic cap is what gives a knee pad a low friction sliding surface needed to skid to stop without transmitting forward momentum to the knee. Without it the pad will dig in and probably slide off no matter how tightly strapped on. Either that or the straps themselves dig in and cut the skin.

Capless knee pads are meant for aggressive skating where thye are worn underneath baggy jeans. The cap wouldn't work anyway because it would not be in direct contact with the ground.

They are a bit costly but soooo worth it.
I'm 37 and the last 20 of that was aggressive skating, (in addition to Urban and distance skating) most of that without knee pads. So I banged around my knees more than any sane person should.

I got some g forms over the winder and I have nothing bad to say about them.
I took them out on a 10 mile skate and I forgot I had them on. Thin, light and do not slip.

I did wear them to the skatepark the other day and I took many spills to my knees. the stuff they use for the foam is amazing. totally works.

If you look around online you can get them cheaper, I got mine this past winter for like $45.

They are a bit costly but soooo worth it.
I'm 37 and the last 20 of that was aggressive skating, (in addition to Urban and distance skating) most of that without knee pads. So I banged around my knees more than any sane person should.

I got some g forms over the winder and I have nothing bad to say about them.
I took them out on a 10 mile skate and I forgot I had them on. Thin, light and do not slip.

I did wear them to the skatepark the other day and I took many spills to my knees. the stuff they use for the foam is amazing. totally works.

If you look around online you can get them cheaper, I got mine this past winter for like $45.

Good luck, lmk if you have any questions.

Interesting. Did you do any high speed crashes?

This or possibly a similar review are why I have hesitated to try the g-form's:

"During a failed attempt to hold out a slide, our rider highsided and fell directly onto the kneepads down a steep hill. In this instance, the pads held on for a second or so, but soon afterwards the right pad was pulled off of our riders knee, exposing it to the pavement, which resulted in a bloody knee. The material simply had too much friction with the ground to stay on, which makes sense, since Poron XRD is urethane, regardless of how smart it is."

If you want to slide, you will need something with a hard plastic shell, which, imo are more bulky, heaver, and harder to keep on.

Even with light weight pads, most of the bulk and weight is the foam padding, not the plastic shell. The design of lightweight, low bulk, knee pads is a solved problem and has been for many years. It just isn't generally available.

The components are:

1) A shell curved to accommodate the anatomy of the knee and give it freedom of movement.
2) A ridge in the foam just above the knee cap to prevent sliding.
3) Adequate range of sizes so that reasonable fit can be achieved.

For longevity, you also want:

4) An elastic but not excessively stretchy top strap.
5) A non-stretch bottom strap.

However, they were only ever available in two sizes and the straps stretch out much too quickly.

Triple-8 Street pads hits 2,3, and 5. Unfortunately, the cap doesn't not match human anatomy. The result is a pad that never seems to sit properly. I think they just took the shell from their aggressive pads. In those pads, the shell sits on top of 1" thick foam so it really doesn't have to match knee geometry all that closely. http://triple8.com/product/street-knee/

Hmm. Now that I think of it, I wonder how difficult it would be to transplant a Lizard Skins cap onto Triple-8 backing?

I can offer some very sound advice, straight from NASA on selecting the best design style for pads in so far as how the style of pads that use velcro cinch straps will work best.

A while back NASA was embarking on a project to produce the next generation astronaut space suit. One of the biggest areas needing improvement was concerned with excess stiffness at many joint flex zones of the suit, especially the hands and finger joints.

How long astronauts could work effectively during space walks was being limited by the amount of muscle fatigue they had to tolerate from the suit pressure causing so much joint flex resistance. NASA created a competition, with $500K prize I believe, for inventors and companies to submit breakthrough design schemes that would give dramatic reduction in muscle force needed to work key suit and glove joints.

Even with big corporations having large budgets participating, the prize ended up being won by a lone individual inventor working out of his garage.
He came up with a winning glove concept that reduced the force needed to work the finger joints by ~50%. The key breakthrough was to have every joint use two suit fabric tension strips always forming an X crossing on the inside of every knuckle and other bending joint. Makes perfect sense once you see it in action.

I had various protective skate gear sets where the knee and elbow pads each used a pair (upper & lower) velcro cinch straps to tighten the pads in position over the knees and elbows. Unfortunately, they were always sliding out of position as I skated. I tried switching the way the straps were routed so that they formed an X behind the knees and inside the elbows.

Amazingly, the crossing X pattern worked so much better I couldn't believe it. If the pads started shifting off the optimum desired location, subsequent joint flexing tended to pull them back to where they should be.
This worked well for both the elastic and non-elastic style cinch straps. Because I don't have to pull them as tightly now, the elastic ones last a lot longer from being less stretched too.

Now I only buy knee and elbow pads that use this style velcro cinch straps, and with straps that have enough length to be re-routed in the crossing X path arrangement. I do not have to make them so tight either, yet they still hold position so well I rarely ever have to think about that anymore.
Will post a PIC soon.

How about Rollerblade Pro? I have had mine for 5 yrs now and although I have not crashed very often I believe these will both stay in position and slide. The straps will stretch but this an easy fix. As I said though.. I have not really "crash tested" them

These are what I have been skating the last couple years.
Straps are elastic and long enough that I am able to route them in an X-crossing pattern on the inside of my knees and elbows, which keeps them centered where they need to stay.
They are very lightweight, yet have given adequate protection for several crashes during this period.
The price is hard to beat, even if they only last one year.

These are what I have been skating the last couple years.
Straps are elastic and long enough that I am able to route them in an X-crossing pattern on the inside of my knees and elbows, which keeps them centered where they need to stay.
They are very lightweight, yet have given adequate protection for several crashes during this period.
The price is hard to beat, even if they only last one year.